It has been customary to arrange ignition coils in various locations on automotive vehicles, or adjacent to engines therefor, and position separate control systems, located in housings for the control components therein. The ignition coils themselves are located in fixed housings, cast therein for example, or in separate housing structures. They are customarily made as separate components positioned within the engine compartment of a vehicle, or secured to the engine, or a component thereof. When located within the engine compartment of the vehicle, they are frequently secured or attached to the fire wall of the vehicle or to one of the wheel housings. It has also been proposed to secure an ignition coil to the distributor, in which the coil housing is located either on the cap of the distributor or on the distributor housing. The ignition coil, or its housing structure, may be unitary with the ignition coil element itself.
Ignition coils, particularly of higher performance type which have a fair primary current flowing therethrough, can get hot due to the copper losses within the coil. Some cooling of the coil is, therefore, desirable, either by the housing structure itself or by the location of the coil in the engine compartment of the vehicle.